Numerical modelling of depositional sequences in half-graben rift basins

ABSTRACT A three‐dimensional numerical model of sediment transport and deposition in coarse‐grained deltas is used to investigate the controls on depositional sequence variability in marine half‐graben extensional basins subject to eustatic sea‐level change. Using rates of sea‐level change, sediment supply and fault slip reported from active rift basins, the evolution of deltas located in three contrasting structural settings is documented: (1) footwall‐sourced deltas in high‐subsidence locations near the centre of a fault segment; (2) deltas fed by large drainage catchments at fault tips; and (3) deltas sourced from drainage catchments on the hangingwall dip slope. Differences in the three‐dimensional form and internal stratigraphy of the deltas result from variations in tilting of the hangingwall and the impact of border fault slip rates on accommodation development. Because subsidence rates near the centre of fault segments are greater than all but the fastest eustatic falls, footwall‐sourced deltas lack sequence boundaries and are characterized by stacked highstand systems tracts. High subsidence and steep bathymetry adjacent to the fault result in limited progradation. In contrast, the lower subsidence rate settings of the fault‐tip and hangingwall dip‐slope deltas mean that they are subject to relative sea‐level fall and associated fluvial incision and forced regression. Low gradients and tectonic tilting of the hangingwall influence the geometry of these deltas, with fault‐tip deltas preferentially prograding axially along the fault, creating elongate delta lobes. In contrast, broad, sheet‐like delta lobes characterize the hangingwall dip‐slope deltas. The model results suggest that different systems tracts may be coeval over length scales of several kilometres and that key stratal surfaces defining and subdividing depositional sequences may only be of local extent. Furthermore, the results highlight pitfalls in sequence‐stratigraphic interpretation and problems in interpreting controlling processes from the preserved stratigraphic product.     

Tectonic controls on sequence stacking pattern and along-strike architecture in the Pleistocene Mejillones Formation,northern Chile: Implications for sequence stratigraphic models

In the Mejillones Formation, a shallow-marine Pleistocene succession of northern Chile, the cyclic stratigraphic record is the result of the complex interaction of regional uplift, glacio-eustasy, local tectonics, sediment supply, and sedimentary processes. Stratal geometries, characteristics of sedimentary facies, and nature of sequence-bounding unconformities have been investigated to evaluate the influence of: (i) intrabasinal, short-term normal faulting on both along-strike variations in sequence architecture and genetic complexity of key stratal surfaces; and (ii) long-term regional uplift on sequence stacking pattern. The stratigraphic succession, dissected by small-displacement (few meters) normal faults striking obliquely with respect to the palaeo-shoreline trends, displays systematic variations in sequence architecture and the nature of bounding surfaces across them. Indeed, depending on position with respect to the fault plane, two basic types of internal organisation can be recognised in the examined shallow-marine, almost clastic-starved sequence. Within grabens it consists of a siliciclastic-rich transgressive systems tract (TST), which is bounded beneath by a transgressively modified, Glossifungites-demarcated sequence boundary (SB/RS), overlain by a mollusc-bearing falling-stage systems tract (FSST). The erosional downlap surface that separates the TST from the FSST is the regressive surface of marine erosion (RSME). On the footwall crests the combination of marine regressive erosion, during falls in relative sea-level, and uplift has resulted in complete removal of the sediments of the TST from these sites, leading to the formation of a tectonically enhanced basal unconformity composed of the RSME superimposed onto the previous SB/RS (SB/RS/RSME). The prominent lateral change in component units (systems tracts) and nature of bounding surfaces within the studied sequence is directly related to the presence of normal faults and indicates that fault activity had a major impact on the sequence stratigraphic evolution of the Mejillones Formation, enhancing subsidence within the grabens and promoting unconformities in the horsts.Overall, the Mejillones Formation records a long-term sea-level fall driven by the contemporaneous regional uplift, punctuated by repeated, high-frequency eustatic sea-level changes. The effect of this superimposition was that glacio-eustatic sequences were displaced progressively downward and basinward and stacked in a distinct downstepping, tectonically enhanced falling-stage sequence set, which reflects basin-wide loss in accommodation space. The sequence set is underlain by a composite RSME that becomes progressively younger basinward and is made up by the lateral and down-dip connection of a series of lower-rank sequence boundaries including hanging-wall SB/RSs and footwall SB/RS/RSMEs of successive sequences.     

Badenian (Middle Miocene) basin development in SW Hungary: subsidence history based on quantitative paleobathymetry of foraminifera

A quantitative paleobathymetric study of Badenian foraminifera was carried out from Tekeres-1 and Tengelic-2 boreholes, north of the Mecsek Mts., SW Hungary. Paleobathymetric data, based on plankton/benthos ratio provided input for the analysis of the subsidence history. The biostratigraphic framework is mainly provided by calcareous nannoplankton (zones NN5-NN7). Changes in sedimentation rates are also considered, partly calculated from number of benthos per unit sediment, and partly estimated from the changes of lithofacies. Relative sea-level changes are calculated from changes of paleowater depth and coeval sedimentary thickness. The result is examined as the sum of accommodation space created by subsidence and eustasy. In that period of time eustatic changes were about an order of magnitude smaller than changes created by movements of the basin floor. According to our model in early Badenian (up to the half of NN5 nannozone) a very rapid transtension-related subsidence of about 500 m occurred. This was interrupted by a short period of uplift of minor magnitude at about the first third of NN5 zone; thereafter, subsidence continued and the basin floor reached its deepest position. Still within the NN5 nannozone (Early Badenian) a significant uplift occurred, terminating the life of the deep basin. The Late Badenian (NN6) is characterized by a relatively small rate of subsidence and presumably quiet tectonism. During this period bathymetric changes are thought to be controlled primarily by eustatic changes. The first uplift - only interrupting subsidence - is regarded as the result of the change of the local stress field because of convergence along the curvature of strike slip faults. The second uplift, which stopped the subsidence of the basin floor is thought to be of a regional character and is attributed to the compression generated between Tisza and Alcapa tectonic units.     

Unconventional distribution of facies in a continental rift basin: the Pliocene–Pleistocene Mangas Basin, south-western New Mexico, USA

The Pliocene–Early Pleistocene Mangas Basin in SW New Mexico, USA, was a N–NW-trending full graben that changed southward to an eastward-tilted half graben. Unlike the facies distribution predicted in existing models, the half-graben part of the Mangas Basin was characterized by broad alluvial fans derived from the footwall scarp, smaller hangingwall-derived alluvial fans, and a shallow, closed lake (Lake Buckhorn) that locally lapped onto the hangingwall hills. The distribution of facies within the full-graben part of the Mangas Basin was also unlike that predicted in current models, primarily because of a broad belt of alluvial-fan sediment derived from the eastern footwall scarp and a narrow belt of axial-fluvial sediment adjacent to the western footwall scarp. The distribution of facies in the Mangas Basin does not appear to have been controlled by the eastward tilt of the floor of the half graben or ‘see-saw’ motion of the floor of the full graben, as predicted by existing models, but rather by the large size of the alluvial fans on the eastern side of the basin. These fans were derived from large, high-relief catchments on the footwall scarp of the Mogollon Mountains, the uplift of which began during Early Miocene. This example illustrates how earlier uplift and drainage development in a mountain range may influence facies distribution in a younger extensional basin.     

Vertically stacked Gilbert-type deltas of Ventimiglia (NW Italy): The Pliocene record of an overfilled Messinian incised valley

Overfilled incised valleys develop when the rate of sediment supply outpaces the rate of accommodation. An overfilled incised valley presents simple or compound valley-fill architecture, depending on the depth of the valley incision, compared with the height reached by the following sea-level rise.The Ventimiglia incised valley, exposed on the Ligurian coast, north-western Mediterranean margin, presents a spectacular example of compound incised-valley fill, developed in perennial “overfill” conditions. The valley was subaerially incised during the Messinian Salinity Crisis and rapidly flooded by the sea at the beginning of Pliocene, then filled by eleven coarse-grained Gilbert-type deltas during Early–Middle Pliocene time.The basal Messinian unconformity is locally paved with subaerial scree breccias and bioclastic shallow-marine sandstones, and blanketed by bathyal marls. These deposits record the lowstand, transgressive and early-highstand systems tracts of the first valley-fill sequence. The subsequent progradation of Gilbert-type deltas occurred in four stages, or depositional sequences, separated by transgressive marine-marl intervals. Within each depositional sequence, the deltaic bodies display offlapping architecture, recording falling shoreline trajectory, downward shifts in facies, and overall forced regression. The water depth and accommodation in the inundated coastal valley was gradually decreasing with time. The reduced accommodation allowed the youngest deltas to prograde out to the shelf edge, triggering mass collapses and subsequent filling into the newly created slump scars. Some of the deltas probably acted as “canyon-perched deltas” and supplied sediment to the deep-water slope and floor of the Ligurian Basin.The vertical stacking of Gilbert-type deltas is usually attributed, in tectonically active basins, to fault-related subsidence pulses. In Ventimiglia, the accommodation was created by high-frequency eustatic sea-level rises that, probably accompanied by climate controlled reductions in sediment supply, temporarily outpaced uplift, leading to the development of multiple cycles of infill.     

Normal faulting as a control on the stratigraphic development of shallow marine syn-rift sequences: the Nukhul and Lower Rudeis Formations, Hammam Faraun fault block, Suez Rift, Egypt

Tectono-stratigraphic analysis of the East Tanka fault zone (ETFZ), Suez Rift, indicates that the evolution of normal fault segments was an important control on syn-rift depositional patterns and sequence stratigraphy. Sedimentological and stratigraphic analysis of the Nukhul Formation indicates that it was deposited in a narrow (ca 1–2 km), elongate (ca 5 km), fault-bounded, tidally influenced embayment during the low subsidence rift-initiation phase. The Nukhul Formation is composed of transgressive (TST) and highstand (HST) systems tract couplets interpreted as reflecting fault-driven subsidence and the continuous creation of accommodation in the hangingwall to the ETFZ. The overlying Lower Rudeis Formation was deposited during the high subsidence rift-climax phase, and is composed of forced regressive systems tract (FRST) shallow marine sandbodies, and TST to HST offshore mudstones. Activity on the ETFZ led to marked spatial variability in stratal stacking patterns, systems tracts and key stratal surfaces, as footwall uplift, coupled with regressive marine erosion during deposition of FRST sandbodies, led to the removal of intervening TST–HST mudstone-dominated units, and the amalgamation of FRST sandbodies and the stratal surfaces bounding these units in the footwall. This study indicates that the evolution of normal fault segments over relatively short (i.e. <1 km) length-scales has the potential to enhance or suppress a eustatic sea-level signal, leading to marked spatial variations in stratal stacking patterns, systems tracts and key stratal surfaces. Crucially, these variations in sequence stratigraphic evolution may occur within time-equivalent stratal units, thus caution must be exercised when attempting to correlate syn-rift depositional units based solely on stratal stacking patterns. Furthermore, local, tectonically controlled variations in relative sea level can give rise to syn-rift stacking patterns which are counterintuitive in the context of the structural setting and perceived regional subsidence rates.     

Changing lake dynamics and sequence stratigraphy of synrift lacustrine strata in a half-graben: an example from the Triassic Ischigualasto–Villa Unión Basin, Argentina

Well‐exposed Triassic rift strata from the Ischigualasto–Villa Unión Basin (NW Argentina) include a 80 to ca 515 m thick lacustrine‐dominated package that can be correlated across a half‐graben using key stratigraphic surfaces (sequence boundaries, lacustrine flooding surfaces and forced regressive surfaces). The characteristics of the synrift lacustrine fill in different parts of the half‐graben have been examined and the mechanisms controlling sedimentation inferred. A variety of sedimentary environments are recognized including; volcaniclastic floodplain, mildly saline lake and playa lake, offshore lacustrine, delta front to fluvial‐dominated and wave‐dominated deltas, distributary and fluvial channel, and interdistributary bay. The succession can be divided into four stratigraphic sequences (SS1 to SS4), the oldest of which (SS1) contains volcaniclastic, fluvial and saline lake deposits; it is thickest close to the western border fault zone, reflecting more rapid subsidence here. Accommodation exceeded sediment and water input during SS1. The second and third sequences (SS2 and SS3) mark the onset of widespread lacustrine sedimentation, reflecting a balance between accommodation creation and water and sediment fluxes. Sequences SS2 and SS3 are represented by offshore meromictic lacustrine and deltaic deposits, the latter mostly sourced from the flexural and southern axial margins of the half‐graben. The presence of stacked parasequences bound by lacustrine flooding surfaces is related to climatically induced lake‐level fluctuations superimposed on variable rates of subsidence on the controlling rift border fault zone. The youngest sequence (SS4) is represented by the deposits of littoral lacustrine and shallow shelf deltas distinguished by a change in lithofacies, palaeocurrents and sandstone composition, suggesting a switch in sediment supply to the footwall margin to the NW. The change in the sediment source is related to reduced footwall uplift, the possible presence of a relay ramp and/or supply from a captured antecedent drainage network. During SS4, the rate of creation of accommodation was exceeded by the sediment and water discharge. The stratigraphic evolution of lacustrine strata in the half‐graben was mainly controlled by tectonic processes, including subsidence rate and the growth and evolution of the border fault zone, but changing climate (inducing changes in water balance and lake level) and autocyclic processes (delta lobe switching) were also important.     

Stratal architecture and platform evolution of an early Frasnian syn‐tectonic carbonate platform,Canning Basin,Australia

Facies architecture and platform evolution of an early Frasnian reef complex in the northern Canning Basin of north‐western Australia were strongly controlled by syn‐depositional faulting during a phase of basin extension. The margin‐attached Hull platform developed on a fault block of Precambrian basement with accommodation largely generated by movement along the Mount Elma Fault Zone. Recognition of major subaerial exposure and flooding surfaces in the Hull platform (from outcrop and drillcore) has enabled comparison of facies associations within a temporal framework and led to identification of three stages of platform evolution. Stage 1 records initial ramp development on the hangingwall dip slope with predominantly deep subtidal conditions that prevented any cyclic facies arrangements. This stage is characterised by basal siliciclastic deposits and a major deepening‐upward facies pattern that is capped by a sequence boundary towards the footwall (north‐west) and a major flooding surface towards the hangingwall. Stage 2 reflects the bulk of platform aggradation, significant platform growth towards the hangingwall and the development of reef margins and cyclic facies arrangements. Thickening of this stage towards the hangingwall indicates that accommodation was generated by rotation of the fault block and overlying platform. Stage 3 records a major flooding and backstep of the platform margin. The Hull platform illustrates important elements of margin‐attached carbonate platforms in a half‐graben setting, including: (i) prominent, but limited, coarse siliciclastic input that does not have a major detrimental effect on carbonate production near the rift margin in arid to semi‐arid settings; (ii) wedge‐shaped accommodation created by syn‐depositional rotation of fault blocks and tilting of the hangingwall dip slope, resulting in shallow‐water facies and subaerial exposure up‐dip of the rotational axis and deeper water facies down‐dip; and (iii) evolution of a ramp to rimmed shelf, coincident with a sequence boundary–flooding surface, that is accelerated by tilting of the hangingwall dip slope during fault‐block rotation.     

Implications of structural segmentation during earthquakes: the 1995 Egion earthquake, Gulf of Corinth, Greece

The Egion earthquake which occurred in the Gulf of Corinth, central Greece (Ms = 6.2) on 15 June 1995 was caused by normal slip on the north-dipping and WNW-trending Egion fault. The Egion fault ruptured at depth during the Egion mainshock and probably re-ruptured at shallow level during the largest aftershock. The surface trace of the Egion fault has a segmented geometry. Linkage between three segments, which show long-term deformation differences as well as coseismic segmentation, enabled all segments to be incorporated in an earthquake segment. The surface ruptures continued to grow after the coseismic motion; the afterslip throw of the fault 10 weeks after the main event was equal to the 3 cm value for maximum coseismic slip. This afterslip was accompanied by uplift of the footwall block and a warp-like hangingwall subsidence (folding). This pattern of deformation was associated with more complex deformation at the western end of the earthquake segment. Here, afterslip was accompanied by general subsidence of the whole area (between 25th June and 30th July), followed by uplift of the whole area without afterslip (between 30th July and 2nd September). The afterslip-rate averaged over the 73 day period after the main event varied from 0.48 mm day⁻¹ along the central part of the earthquake segment to 0.16 mm day⁻¹ at the eastern end of the earthquake segment.     

Messinian carbonate and alluvial fan sedimentation in Alonnisos Island,Greece: sedimentary response to basement controls,inversion tectonics and climatic fluctuations

A marginal marine carbonate environment, giving away to an alluvial one, was established during Messinian time on Alonnisos Island, the footwall upland of the Southern Marginal Fault of the Sporades Basin (SMFS). Analysis of the evolving depositional systems, with emphasis on their sedimentation processes, faulting patterns and palaeopedological factors, has permitted an interpretation of the simultaneous controls of tectonism and climate. The carbonate sediments were deposited in a shallow marine environment formed along a faulted continental margin under warm and semi-arid climatic conditions. Faulting consisted of NE-trending dextral reverse faults and NW-trending strike slip faults, produced by WNW-directed compression. The basement structural elements affected the spatial distribution of the offshore and shoreface facies, whereas fifth-order cycles of sea-level change were responsible for the development of metre-scale, shallowing-up cycles. The compressional structures were subsequently reactivated by NNE extension. This tectonic inversion, together with a global sea-level fall, triggered alluvial fan sedimentation. Fan sedimentation was disrupted by long periods of non-deposition and soil formation under warm climatic conditions. Three distinct units are recognized in the fan: a lower unit consisting of clast-poor debris flows, attributed to semi-arid–humid periods; an intermediate unit of clast-rich sheetfloods and channel flows, deposited during arid periods; and an upper unit consisting of matrix-rich sheetfloods related to a return to semi-arid–humid conditions. We interpret that the water-flow processes responsible for deposition were most prevalent on fans of arid and semi-arid climates, whereas debris-flow processes were more typical of climates with higher rainfall. As the extension proceeded during the Plio-Quaternary time, the main tectonic activity of the Sporades Basin was taken up by the SMFS causing significant footwall uplift. Due to this process, Alonnisos Island was elevated above the Pliocene highstand and became an area starved of Quaternary sedimentation. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tertiary syntectonic carbonate platform development in Indonesia

Cenozoic tropical carbonate sedimentation was strongly influenced by local and regional tectonics in SE Asia. This paper outlines the evolution of the syntectonic Eocene to middle Miocene Tonasa Formation of South Sulawesi, evaluating controls on sedimentation, facies distribution and sequence development. Development of a facies model for this Cenozoic tropical carbonate platform provides a meaningful analogue for similar, less well‐studied SE Asian carbonates, which commonly comprise targets for hydrocarbon exploration. This study also has considerable implications for the study of syntectonic carbonates, controls on carbonate sedimentation, carbonate platform development in backarc areas and SE Asian tectonics. Detailed facies mapping, logging, petrographic and biostratigraphic analyses indicate that the Tonasa Formation was deposited initially as part of a transgressive sequence in a backarc setting. By late Eocene times, shallow‐water carbonates were being deposited over much of South Sulawesi forming a widespread (100‐km long) platform area. Shallow‐water sedimentation continued unabated in some areas of the platform until the middle Miocene. Elsewhere, active normal faulting resulted in fault‐block platforms, with local subaerial exposure of footwall blocks and the formation of basinal graben in adjacent hangingwall areas. Platform‐top facies were aggradational and dominated by larger benthic foraminifera. Low‐angle slopes, particularly hangingwall dip slopes, were characterized by the development of ramps. Faults, controlled in part by pre‐existing structures, were periodically active and formed steep escarpment margins. Variable regional subsidence strongly influenced the development of the Tonasa Carbonate Platform, whereas platform‐wide effects caused by regional eustacy have not been identified. Computer modelling of the Tonasa Platform confirms that the accommodation space and sedimentary geometries observed can be produced by block faulting and regional subsidence alone. Modelling also reveals that regional subsidence and extension, oblique to the main stretching direction, were low on the margins of the backarc basin. Shallow‐water accumulation rates for this foraminifera‐dominated tropical carbonate platform were an order of magnitude lower than those for modern warm‐water platforms dominated by corals or ooids.     

Lithofacies and cyclicity of Mohilla evaporite basins on the rifted margin of the Levant in the Late Triassic,Makhtesh Ramon,southern Israel

Marine‐connected basins with evaporites occur beneath most extensional continental margins that originated at low‐latitudes and often are of major economic significance. Cyclicity in the evaporite lithofacies reflects the degree of restriction of the basin, overprinted by sea‐level changes, and caused by structural movements in the barrier region, whether by fault‐block rotation, footwall uplift or hanging wall subsidence, in both extensional and compressional basins. The Upper Triassic evaporites of the Ramon section in southern Israel model cyclic sedimentation in such environments. The Mohilla Formation is a carbonate–evaporate–siliciclastic succession of Carnian age that fills a chain of basins extending along the Levant margin from southern Israel to Jordan and Syria. The basins developed in half‐grabens adjacent to normal faults that formed during a period of regional extension. Evaporites of this formation are well‐exposed in outcrops at Makhtesh Ramon, the southernmost of these basins. The M2 Member of the Mohilla Formation is composed of 42 sub‐metre cycles of alternating dolostone, gypsum and calcareous shales. Field and microfacies analysis showed these cycles to conform mostly to restricted shallow and marginal marine environments, spatially limited by the uplifted shoulders of the half‐graben systems. A total of 10 facies types belonging to six depositional environments have been identified. From stacking patterns and analysis of bed to bed change, cycles can be categorized into three groupings: (i) low frequency exposure to exposure cycles that developed under eustatic or climate control; (ii) high frequency deepening/shallowing‐upward cycles, characterized by gradual transitions due to short‐term sea‐level or runoff‐event oscillations possibly referable to orbital forcing; and (iii) high frequency shallowing‐upward cycles, characterized by abrupt transitions, attributable to sporadic tectonic events affecting accommodation space or barrier effectiveness. The way facies and cycling of the sedimentary environments was deciphered in the Mohilla evaporite basin can be used to unravel the genesis of many other evaporite basins with barriers of tectonic origin.     

Le graben de l'Anti-Atlas occidental (Maroc) : contrôle tectonique de la paléogéographie et des séquences au Cambrien inférieur

In the Moroccan western Anti-Atlas, the combined extensive tectonic events with a long-term sea-level rise is the main factor on building vertical stacking transgressive–regressive sequences. In the Ait Abdallah-Boussafene axis, the subsidence processes, relayed by a brutal platform tilting generated an elongated NE–SW graben. This is an evidence of the persistence of the Anti-Atlasic rifting process during the last part of the Lower-Cambrian succession.     

Plio-Quaternary megasequence geometry and its tectonic controls within the Maghrebian thrust belt of south-central Sicily

Sequence stratigraphy in marine foredeep and thrust-top basins is controlled by the conventional variations in eustatic sea-level and sedimentation rate together with tectonics. Vertical motions reflect combinations of subsidence due to regional flexure and uplift on local thrust anticlines which act to modify the volume and shape of accommodation space together with syn-depositional slopes. Plio-Pleistocene successions on Sicily were deposited in thrust-top and foredeep basins, above and ahead of evolving structures of the Maghrebian fold and thrust belt. Collectively the sediments represent a single megasequence defined at its base by a maximum flooding surface of earliest Pliocene age following reconnection with global sea-level at the end of the Messinian. The internal stratigraphy of this megasequence consists of Trubi chalks, blue marls and a coastal calcarenite package with subordinate silciclastic sand. Plankton biostratigraphy allows these facies to be placed in a chronostratigraphic framework. Regionally the upper assemblage progrades away from the orogenic hinterland, recording a tectonically forced regression in response to regional uplift from late Pliocene times. This uplift may be associated with isostatic unloading in the orogenic hinterland due to tectonic collapse of the more internal thrust sheets. Prior to this, flexure from orogenic loading is inferred to have been sufficient for regional subsidence locally to outstrip uplift associated with the growth of some thrust structures. For shallow-water facies the competition between thrust-related uplift and flexural subsidence can be investigated from the stacking patterns of parasequence sets. For structures developed at greater palaeobathymetries receiving fine-grained pelagic sediment, active tectonics may be recognized from depositional hiatuses.     

End-signature of deep-marine basin-fill, as a structurally confined low-gradient clastic system: the Middle Eocene Guaso system, South-central Spanish Pyrenees

The ca 300 m thick Guaso system is the youngest part of the ca 4 km thick deep-marine fill of the Middle Eocene Ainsa basin, Spanish Pyrenees. It is overlain by 150 to 200 m of fine-grained slope, prodelta and deltaic sediments. The ca 25 discrete deep-marine sandbodies within the Ainsa basin accumulated over ca 10 Myr, making eustasy the most likely control for coarse sand deposition (probably the ca 400 kyr Milankovitch mode). The first-order control on basin-scale accommodation, however, was tectonically-driven subsidence. Previously, the Guaso sandbodies were interpreted as linked to deep erosional, canyon-like features, but here it is argued that they are laterally extensive sandbodies, built by lateral-switching of 3 to 10 m deep erosional channels, and confined only by basin structure during deposition. The Guaso system represents the end of deep-marine deposition in a structurally-confined, delta-fed, low-gradient clastic system. The critical end-signature of deep-marine deposition was a phase of differential tectonic uplift above the underlying (Boltaña) thrust creating a narrower and shallower basin morphology, thus allowing sedimentation to create a low-gradient clastic system. Then, the next eustatic sea-level fall was insufficient to permit the cutting of canyons or deeply-incised slope channels, as had been the case earlier when the topographic relief between shelf and basin was at least several hundred metres greater. Such low-gradient clastic systems may characterize the end-signature for the infill of other shallowing-up deep-marine basins where a tectonic driver on subsidence is removed and/or differential uplift/subsidence leads to reduced sea floor gradients, leaving eustasy and sediment flux as the principal control on sediment supply.     

Sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy of a transfer zone coarse-grained delta, Miocene Suez Rift, Egypt

This study focuses on Miocene sedimentation and stratigraphic evolution in a major transfer zone at the northern tip of the Thal Fault segment, Gulf of Suez. The succession generally shoals upwards from offshore mudstone containing pro-delta turbidites, into conglomeratic delta foresets and topsets, with sandstone-dominated shoreface facies coexisting laterally. Despite this upward shoaling, key stratal surfaces marking abrupt changes in relative sea-level allow the succession to be divided into four stratal units. The stacking pattern of the stratal units suggests an initial relative sea-level rise that generated a major marine flooding surface. A relative sea-level fall followed, resulting in widespread exposure and incision. During the ensuing relative sea-level rise a lowstand coarse-grained delta and coeval shoreface succession prograded several kilometres basinward. The stratigraphic development of the transfer zone delta is in marked contrast to that of aggradationally stacked deltas that occur near the centre of the Baba-Sidri fault segment, further south. At the transfer zone, low rates of subsidence and accommodation development coupled with a high sediment supply derived from a large fault tip drainage catchment have produced a strongly progradational delta subject to marked changes in relative sea-level. In the fault centre location, however, higher rates of accommodation development coupled with lower rates of sediment supply from footwall catchments have produced aggradationally stacked deltas. The results from this study have implications for sequence stratigraphic models and hydrocarbon exploration within extensional basins.     

Controls on accumulation of anomalously thick coals: Implications for sequence stratigraphic analysis

Coal seams preserve high-resolution records of ancient terrestrial water table (base level) fluctuations in ancient peat accumulations, but little is known about base level change in anomalously thick coal seams. Using the Early Cretaceous 91 m anomalously thick No. 6 coal (lignite) seam in the Erlian Basin (north-east China) as a case study, the origin and evolution of peat accumulation in a continental faulted basin is revealed by sedimentological, sequence stratigraphic and coal petrological analyses. The lignite is dominated by huminite, indicating oxygen-deficient and waterlogged conditions in the precursor mire. Four types of key sequence stratigraphic surfaces are recognized, including paludification, terrestrialization, accommodation-reversal and give-up transgressive surfaces. Vertically, the No. 6 coal seam consists of fourteen superimposed wetting-up and drying-up cycles separated by key sequence stratigraphic surfaces, with each of these cycles having a mean duration of about 156 to 173 kyr. In a high accommodation peat swamp system, the wetting-up cycles are generally characterized by an upward increase in mineral matter and inertodetrinite and an upward decrease in huminite with the paludification surface as their base and the give-up transgressive surface or accommodation-reversal surface as their top, representing a trend of upward-increasing accommodation. In contrast, the drying-up cycles are generally characterized by an upward decrease in mineral matter and inertodetrinite and an upward increase in huminite, with the terrestrialization surface as their base and the accommodation-reversal surface as their top, representing a trend of upward-decreasing accommodation. A multi-phase mire stacking model for accumulation of the coal seam is proposed based on high-frequency accommodation cycles and the stratigraphic relationships between coal and clastic sediments. High-frequency accommodation cycles in the coal are closely related to water table fluctuations in the precursor mires and are driven by high-frequency climate via changes in the intensity and seasonality of precipitation in a relatively stable subsidence regime. Recognition that the No. 6 coal seam is composed of multiple stacked mires has implications for studies addressing palaeoclimatic inferences and genesis of anomalously thick coals seams.     

Stratigraphic and structural characteristics of the Romanian Black Sea shelf

The Western Black Sea basin opened during Cretaceous times by back-arc rifting in association with a north dipping subduction at the rear of the Cretaceous–Early Tertiary Pontide volcanic arc. The sedimentary wedge developed on the shelf of the Romanian Black Sea sector reflects a complex interplay between large scale rifting, uplift of the orogenic flanks, large-scale post-rift subsidence and sea level changes. We examine the detailed structural configuration of this sector for a regional correlation with the adjacent offshore in Ukraine and Bulgaria. The evolution of the western Black Sea basin started in the Albian–Cenomanian times, when two extensional phases with significantly different directions (N–S and subsequently E–W) lead to the formation of a complex interplay between isolated blocks organised in horsts and grabens generally deepening eastwards. Superposition of normal faults footwall blocks from the two extensional episodes generated a deeply subsided area with enhanced accommodation space, i.e., the Histria Depression, and, consequently, recorded a larger thickness of Paleogene sediments in the post-rift stage. (Re)activation of faults and associated folding reflects repeated inversion during the Late Cretaceous–Oligocene times, associated with subsequent periods of non-deposition and/or erosion during moments of basin fill exposure. These periods of inversion recorded in the Black Sea are controlled by coeval orogenic deformations taking place in the Balkans, Pontides and the Crimean thrust belt. Sea level fluctuations during the Neogene and late Alpine tectonics in the neighbouring orogens caused massive sedimentation followed by sediment starvation and/or significant erosion. Large thicknesses of sediments accumulated during the Pontian, presumably associated with an extensional episode deepening the distal parts of the basin and with differential compaction structures. The interpretation of a high-quality seismic dataset combined with published data allowed the correlation of major structural units and lineaments defined onshore towards the Carpathians with the ones deeply buried below the western Black Sea basin sediments. Unit correlations are furthermore used to derive an integrated tectonic image of the western Black Sea area.     

The terminology of structures in thrust belts

A review of structures and geometric relationships recognized in thrust belts is presented. A thrust is defined as any contractional fault, a corollary being that thrusts must cut up-section in their transport direction. ‘Flats’ are those portions of a thrust surface which were parallel to an arbitrary datum surface at the time of displacement and ‘ramps’ are those portions of thrusts which cut across datum surfaces. Ramps are classified on the basis of their orientation relative to the thrust transport direction and whether they are cut offs in the hangingwall or footwall of the thrust. Lateral variations in the form of staircase trajectories are joined by oblique or lateral ramps which have a component of strike-slip movement.An array of thrusts which diverge in their transport direction may form by either of two propagation models. These are termed ‘piggy-back’ propagation, which is foreland-directed, and ‘overstep’ propagation which is opposed to the thrust transport direction. An array of thrust surfaces is termed an ‘imbricate stack’ and should these surfaces anastamose upwards a ‘duplex’ will result; the fault-bounded blocks are termed ‘horses’. A duplex is bounded by a higher, ‘roof’ thrust and a lower, ‘floor’ thrust. The intersection of any two thrust planes is termed a ‘branch line’.Thrusts can be classified on the basis of their relationship to asymmetric fold limbs which they cut. A further classification arises from whether a particular thrust lies in the hangingwall or footwall of another one.The movement of thrust sheets over corrugated surfaces, or the local development of thrust structures beneath, will fold higher thrust sheets. These folds are termed ‘culminations’ and their limbs are termed ‘culmination walls’. Accommodation of this folding may require movement on surfaces within the hangingwall of the active thrust. These accommodation surfaces are termed ‘hangingwall detachments’ and they need not root down into the active thrust. This category of detachment includes dip-slip ‘hangingwall drop faults’ which are developed by differential uplift of duplex roofs, and ‘out-of-the-syncline’ thrusts which develop from overtightened fold hinges. Back thrusts, as well as forming as hangingwall detachments, may also form due to layer-parallel shortening above a sticking thrust or by rotation of the hangingwall above a ramp.     

Syn‐rift sequence development in a fault‐controlled embayment (Early Permian Irwin River Coal Measures,Northern Perth Basin,Western Australia)

Stratigraphic patterns and sequence development in tectonically active extensional basins remain poorly documented in comparison with passive‐margin settings. Rift basin fills are generally characterized by coarsening‐upward trends in response to the rapid creation of accommodation by extensional faulting, and the progressive filling of graben during more quiescent periods. The Early Permian Irwin River Coal Measures in the Northern Perth Basin (Western Australia) record a complex stratigraphic arrangement of conglomerate, sandstone, mudstone and coal, and have been attributed to delta plain depositional environments that developed in a cool–temperate climatic setting during syn‐rift activity. Sedimentary analysis of outcrop and core data from the fault‐bounded Irwin Terrace is used to distinguish nine facies associations reflecting deposition in braided rivers, fixed‐anastomosed channel belts, tide‐influenced coastal environments and storm‐affected distal bays. The broader depositional system is interpreted as a morphologically asymmetrical tide‐dominated embayment with a fluvial and wave influence. The stratigraphic architecture of the Irwin River Coal Measures was strongly influenced by the evolving rift basin margin. Fault reactivation of the major basin‐bounding Darling Fault in the early syn‐rift phase caused footwall uplift and the inception of transverse palaeo‐valleys occupied by braided fluvial systems. Fault block subsidence during the subsequent balanced, backstepping and drowning phases resulted in a dominantly retrogradational stacking pattern indicating progressive flooding of marginal‐marine areas and culminating in deposition of distal marine elements. In the active rift basin, it is proposed that preservation of a shallow‐marine syn‐rift sequence was promoted by the geomorphological confinement of the embayed system increasing tidal current acceleration and hampering transgressive ravinement. The proposed sequence model demonstrates that transgressive successions can develop in the early syn‐rift phase in response to footwall uplift and tectonic subsidence. The syn‐rift sequence recording the filling of an embayment on a rift basin margin may be applied in similar tectonic and/or depositional contexts worldwide.